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A trend is what’s popular among the majority of people. It may be a fashion trend, Instagram trend, political trend, etc. These trends are becoming more and more unpredictable in today’s world. Especially Instagram and Twitter trends. Social media is easily accessible and unavoidable in the 21st century. Because of this, the number of people who use social media has increased. It just takes a few influencers to start a trend and then that trend is blowing up everywhere. Due to covid-19 a lot of people spent time at home and started making reels and TikToks. One catchy song and you’ll see millions of people doing the same dance for a while. This whole process is unpredictable; you never know which song or dance may go viral.
Social media plays the most important role in spreading a lot of trends. Trends have existed since the time social media apps gained popularity for example- The mannequin challenge, dabbing, ice bucket challenge, etc. But in recent times, with Tiktok and Instagram reels, trends have become the new trend. There are hundreds of new trends every month and thousands of people following them.
While there is so much to learn and discover on the internet, the unpredictability of these trends is both beneficial and harmful.
People are blindly following people just to get “famous” or for their reel to blow up and get a million views. Harmful trends such as the Kiki challenge, where the person gets out from a moving car with the door still open and starts dancing while the car is still moving, may be amusing to look at but people don’t realize how risky it can get. There have been multiple accidents where people were seriously injured while jumping out of a moving car. Not considering your life and others' lives just to get likes and comments on social media is irresponsible.
This unpredictability can be both good and bad. Like in the lockdown, it kept people updated and entertained. People never know what to expect or what the new trend might be. It can be harmful as it takes a toll on the mental health of the people using social media. People feel insecure sometimes and that leads to low self-confidence.